Make Outlook 2007 Much Much Faster

Make Outlook 2007 Much Much Faster

If you have a large (1-2 GB or larger) mailbox in Outlook 2007, you have undoubtedly noticed that it can take a long time to start up in the morning. Like startup-Outlook-then-go-get-a-cup-of-coffee long. (There is a reason I am not in Product Marketing).

You may have also noticed long shutdown times, an messages about “The data file ‘<file name>’ was not closed properly. This file is being checked for problems”.

If, so, then I have AWESOME news. The Outlook team has fixed all of these problems for Service Pack 2 (coming out in the next few months…), and even better, has backported these fixes into the February Cumulative Update for Outlook 2007, which is available now.

I cannot emphasize this enough… the difference is NIGHT-AND-DAY. Outlook starts up and shuts down instantly. This update strongly gets the Sean Seal Of Approval.

One thing to note… in order for the magic to take place, Outlook has to reprocess your data files the first time you open Outlook after installing the update. This can take a few minutes, after which Outlook switches into uber-snappy mode.